Yugoslavia Cuts Ties To Bosnian Serbs

RUMP Yugoslavia said yesterday it was cutting all political and economic ties to Bosnian Serbs over their rejection on Wednesday of an international peace plan for the third time.

The entity, made up of Serbia and Montenegro, said it would bar entry to rebel Serb leaders and close its borders to Bosnian Serbs except for deliveries of food and medicine, the state news agency Tanjug reported.

The Bosnian Serb assembly voted Wednesday for the third time to reject the plan drawn up by Russia, the United States, France, Britain, and Germany.

The plan would reduce Serb holdings in Bosnia from 70 percent to 49 percent of the republic. A Muslim-Croat federation, which has accepted the plan, would get the rest.

The assembly also voted to call a referendum on Aug. 27 and 28 to endorse its decision.

Russia Thursday refused to accept the assembly's decison to reject the plan and said it still hoped for a ``yes'' from all Serbs.

Moscow's top negotiator on former Yugoslavia, Vitaly Churkin, urged the Bosnian Serb leader and the leader of Serbia to take personal responsibility for accepting the plan, Itar-Tass news agency reported.

Intense artillery and infantry battles raged yesterday in central and northeast Bosnia after Bosnian Serb leaders rejected the plan.

Bosnian Serb troops, defying threats of NATO air strikes, tried to seize heavy weapons from a UN-guarded compound near Sarajevo, but they were blocked by French peacekeepers, a UN spokesman said yesterday.